Final Round of i3 Grant Winners Announced

The United States Department of Education last week announced 15 winners for the seventh and final round of Investing in Innovation (i3) grants under the Obama Administration. The competitive grant program issues funding to expand programs that boost student achievement and college readiness, improve science education, turnaround low-achieving schools and support educator effectiveness.

The department launched the first round of i3 in 2010, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Altogether, the i3 program has received more than 5,000 applications, selected 172 applicants and will have provided $1.4 billion in funding by the end of this year.

About 400 applications were received in this latest round. The 15 recipients had the highest-rated programs and will receive a combined total more than $103 million.

Among the winners is Spurwink Services, a nationally accredited nonprofit that provides behavioral health and education services whose Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) program was the first to work its way through all three categories of the i3 grant program (development, validation and scale-up). The BARR model uses a strengths-based approach to help meet students’ academic, social and emotional needs, according to a prepared statement. Spurwink Services will receive $20 million in funding to scale-up the BARR model in at least 116 U.S. schools over the next five years – impacting nearly 150,000 students and 11,600 teachers.

It is unclear whether the program will continue under the Trump Administration, according to an Education Week report, but the final round has already been funded forward to cover the next three to five years for all 15 programs.

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